


Luke & Flora: An Undertale

by sarajust



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Family, Gen, Growing Up, Male-Female Friendship, Nonsense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-10
Packaged: 2018-04-30 13:11:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5165033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarajust/pseuds/sarajust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke wouldn't trade a life of puzzles and adventure for the world. Unfortunately, children are only allowed to decide so much for themselves, and he has to go home to his parents. He tries to take matters into his own hands nonetheless.</p><p>What starts out as a Luke's act of rebellion will turn into a journey that tests all the lessons he and Flora have learned under Professor Layton's wing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Faller

It was the last night of his unofficial apprenticeship under Professor Layton.

Luke Triton did not want to go back home to his parents yet. Professor Layton and Flora would go on to have grand adventures without him while he was stuck living the regular life of a regular child. He felt selfish, knowing his family probably did miss him after all this time, and that his dear friends wouldn’t forget about him. They’d write, at least. They’d also visit sometime, right?

He hated being a child. The future seemed too uncertain and out of his control. What could he do about this? He wasn’t _really_ a gentleman. He was just a boy.

And he was going to act like it.

After changing into regular clothes in the hotel bathroom, Luke picked up his messenger bag and quietly made his exit. He knew this little town they were staying in well enough to get where he wanted to be on his own. There was nothing to fear. His course was set for the nearby woods, where he’d hide until he missed the boat home.

Now and then, he’d hear a noise behind him, but he didn’t turn around. If he acted like he was supposed to be out at night, then it was less likely for anyone to bother him.

 _Besides, it’s probably just a cat._ He thought to himself, walking faster. You know, to keep himself from getting distracted by the cat and inevitably getting caught. He wasn’t scared at all.

Once Luke entered the forest, he sat on a rock and procured a water bottle from his bag. He rummaged further, trying to find a snack. He swore he packed _something._ Ah, yes! Pillow chocolates.

He was beginning to regret his decision. How was he going to keep on like this until tomorrow? He curled up on the rock, wondering what the Professor would say if he tried to return now and wound up waking him up. What if he already knew he was gone? And Flora! She’d be worried sick!

“Luke?” A familiar voice called to him, “Luke, why are you out here? Where are you?”

Against any bit of sense he had, Luke ran. He could hear Flora chasing after him, getting frustrated with branches catching onto her dress.

“Luke! What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry!” Luke cried out, but he pressed on deeper into the trees. He wasn’t sure where he was going anymore, it was so dark.

“The Professor isn’t awake, we can still go back without getting you in trouble!” Flora promised, her voice no longer coming from behind. She was somewhere off to his right, now. She was getting just as lost as he was, “But if you keep acting like this, I’ll have to tell him that you’re- OH!”

He heard her fall and… slide? He stood still, eyes beginning to adjust to the darkness of the forest.

“Flora? Are you alright?” He asked. Flora mumbled to herself, assessing her situation before responding.

“It feels like I’m on the edge of a really steep hill, but my foot’s caught on something, so I think I can climb back up. I can’t see what’s below me. I don’t think we’ve seen this part of the forest in the daylight!”

Luke followed her voice. It seemed to have been coming from a clearing, “That’s the point! I didn’t want to be found. Why did you follow me?”

“To figure out why you left! I couldn’t sleep, anyway.” Flora climbed backwards until she could sit and discovered that her shoe had gotten caught in the root of a tree. After freeing herself, she squinted into the darkness, trying to see her surroundings more clearly. Was there a large hole in the ground?

Luke caught up to Flora and sat next to her, becoming perplexed by the same dark circle in the ground before them. The children were sitting in silence. The Earth beneath them was cool and damp, slowly soaking their clothes. Drops of leftover rainwater fell off of leaves above them and landed upon Flora’s scarf and Luke’s hat. The two of them sustained small scratches from branches they hadn’t seen well enough to dodge, and mud clung to Flora from her fall. It was a miserable night for an impromptu hike.

“I can’t know what you’re feeling right now, but I want you know I’m going to miss you, Luke. The Professor will, too. We both hate to see you go, but…”

Luke nodded, sniffling. His parents wanted him home, now. Nobody could argue against parents.

He didn’t particularly feel like dwelling on it.

“W-What do you think is down there?”

“I don’t know. I almost found out, though!”

“Maybe it’s not even a hole? You’d think the townspeople would warn you about something like this.”

“Or maybe that’s why there was a sign that told us to stay on the path, Luke.”

“Well, you’re probably right. But it’s just so _weird_.”

Mysterious as the hole was, there was no more time for these kinds of mysteries, and his antics had put his friend in enough danger already.

They had to return to the Professor, who was probably looking for them by now. He always woke up once or twice in the night for some reason or another, and would always check on them to make sure they’re still tucked in and resting fitfully. He’s saved Luke’s teddy bear from the floor on nights where it fell from his bed more than once.

“I’ll go back with you, now. Thanks for coming after me.” Luke wiped his eyes and stood up. He offered his hand to Flora to help her stand, ready to be a gentleman again. Once on her feet, she thanked him and tried to pat the mud off of her dress best as she could.

“I’m not sure which way will take us back. Anything look familiar?”

“I-I don’t think so.”

“Do you think you could get the forest animals to help?”

Luke listened. It was oddly quiet for a forest.

“I _really_ got us lost, Flora.”

“Just another puzzle to solve, right? We’ve both been taught how to deal with these things by Professor Layton, so we can get through this together.”

“Well, he did say that if we ever get lost, we should stay put where we can be seen. It’s harder to find someone when they’re moving from place to place!”

“We can’t see any lights from here, so there’s no way to be sure which direction is right or wrong without separating to work as a team. Being alone sounds like a bad idea out here, at least while it’s so dark.”

Both of them hated it, but it seemed like the best solution was to wait where they were for now. They intended to sit back down, but the soft ground beneath them had other plans.

“Whoa!”

“Grab my hand!”

The loose earth crumbled too quickly for them to react properly. Luke and Flora fell with it into the unknown.

Falling seemed to take forever, and the children couldn't see an end to it in the darkness. They squeezed each other's hands and closed their eyes, expecting the worst to come.


	2. Nice

Flora opened her eyes. Morning light was faintly shining down upon her through the hole in the cave ceiling. The opening was so far up that it seemed small. How had she survived the fall? She sat up carefully, in case anything had broken, and began to look for Luke.

It appeared to be the flowers that saved their lives. Her landing had left an imprint in the flowerbed, and a smaller, Luke shaped imprint was about a foot away. The cave walls only had one tunnel, making it the only place he could have been found. She ran inside, not appreciative of being left alone in such a place. After a twist and turn in the path, she found him crouched in front of something, talking to it quietly.

“Luke! Where did you go?”

“Spelunking! Look, I made a friend! Flora, this is Flowey!” He stood up and gestured towards a smiling flower.

“How do you do, m’lady?” Flowey asked. He _seemed_ friendly, but you could never be too sure with strangers.

“I didn’t know that talking flowers existed.” She confessed, walking towards Luke and his alleged friend with caution.

“Why not? You can talk, and I’m a type of _Flora_ , right?”

“W-Well, I suppose you’re right! Nice to meet you, Flowey!” She laughed for the sake of politeness and curtseyed.

“Now that we’re all here, I can tell you how to get out!”

The air became filled with a strange energy, and white pellets began to form in the air. They moved quickly to form a spinning ring around the room. Flowey adopted a more sinister and frightening expression, confirming Flora’s fears.

“The quickest way out, is to DIE!”

The children tried to run out of the way and duck under the pellets, but the ring only adjusted to whatever height it needed to be to kill them. They sat in the center of the ring, watching it close in on them slowly.

“Why are you doing this?” Luke asked sorrowfully, feeling betrayed. Flowey only laughed at him. Doomed for the second time in the span of 24 hours and seeing no way out, he curled into a ball defensively. Having no trust to betray in the first place, Flora stared Flowey down.

“You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“That’s right, child!” Flowey was thrown out of sight by an invisible force, and the threat went with him. They heard footsteps approaching from a shadowy part of the cave just ahead of them. Luke lifted his head to peek at the shadowy figure from behind his knees. The creature had horns atop its head and a formidable size. Whatever it was that saved them was not a force to be reckoned with. But when the light touched the creature’s face, there was nothing but pure sympathy in her eyes.

“You poor things! Don’t be frightened, I’m on your side. My name is Toriel.” She bent her knees and smiled, offering her hands palm up, “You should come along with me. This is a dangerous place for children.”

“Do you know a way out?” Flora asked as she and Luke took a hand on either side of Toriel. She felt a little old for hand holding, but being in such a strange place also made her feel small. Luke looked to her excitedly.

“You can understand her, too?” He mouthed quietly, glad he wouldn’t have to translate for this particular goat. Flora nodded, and the two allowed Toriel to lead them to safety.

“There’s only one way out, but you don’t need to worry about it. I believe I heard that your names are Luke and Flora?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Luke smiled. Flora kept her gaze to the ground.

Toriel lead the children to a place she only called The Ruins. She explained that the place was full of all sorts of puzzles, many of them dangerous.  Luke looked around him excitedly, wondering where the first puzzle would be. He read any sign they passed for potential clues. When they reached the first puzzle, a path where if you took a wrong step you’d get a less than stylish piercing in your foot, he darted right in, only to have Toriel exercise her size advantage and pick him up. She decided the safest place for this boy was over her shoulder.

“Didn’t I just warn you these puzzles are dangerous?”

“I understood it!”

“Then you meant to take one more step to the left, correct?” Toriel sighed, moving forward on the proper path.

“Oh. Of course.” He adjusted his cap, “Could I try again?”

“With puzzles like these, you may not get second tries. Be more careful, please.”

The group soon arrived in Toriel’s home, where Luke and Flora cleaned up and got band-aids for the scrapes and cuts they obtained from their journey thus far. Toriel apologized over tea and butterscotch-cinnamon pie that she only had one extra bed, and that one of them would have to use a sleeping bag for the time being. Luke volunteered to have the sleeping bag while Flora worried just how long the “time being” was going to be.

“Is getting back to the surface going to be difficult? We’re not causing any trouble, are we?” Flora asked.

“No dear, you’re no trouble at all. You don’t have to worry about getting back to the surface.” Toriel promised.

“Is… this place real?” She looked at her hands, “We fell down from pretty high.”

“Mmph! Mmm mreph!” Luke defended how real he was, shocked by Flora’s question.

“Luke, please swallow your food before talking.” Toriel weakly scolded, trying not to laugh at his pie filled cheeks, “This place is full of magic! You’ve only gotten a human education on monsters, coming from the surface. You’ll probably be a little less frightened if I tell you more about us.”

Thus began a full day of education. Toriel told them about magic, a brief history on the war, more about puzzles, and how to get out of a fight just by talking. At first it seemed like this was a world they could navigate on their own, but she didn’t recommend they go exploring without her. The way she made the world outside of her home sound, they weren’t sure they wanted to. Their education was peppered with multitasking as they’d help her around the house. Sometimes the subject would switch to snails, most often after giving a vague answer about the barrier barring monsters from the surface. The children deduced that the barrier must be a touchy subject for monsters and didn’t ask too much about it. The day went by quickly. Toriel showed the children to their room once bed time came upon them. She hugged them both.

“Tomorrow will be another big day! Sleep well, my children. I’ll see you in the morning.” Toriel bid Luke and Flora goodnight and left the room. After a few minutes of laying in silence, Luke sat up from the floor.

“Flora, are you asleep?”

“No.”

“Toriel’s a nice lady, right?”

“I think so. She’s going to help us reach the surface, after all. She kept saying we don’t have to worry about it.”

“But _when?_ All she’s said about it is not to worry.”

“I’m… worried about that, too.” Flora admitted, turning in her bed to face him, “Your parents and the Professor will be happy so long as we make it back in the end, right?”

Luke lay back down, smiling at the ceiling.

“Well, Toriel _did_ say that tomorrow is a big day. I bet we’re going home tomorrow!” he whispered joyously. Flora yawned.

“I hope they’re not too worried up there. Goodnight, Luke.”

“Goodnight…”

 

 

Near the mysterious, gaping hole in the Earth, Flora’s scarf clung to a branch.


End file.
